The accused disclosed he committed the snatchings and robberies with associates (Representational)
A 35-year-old man, involved in over 100 cases of snatching and robbery in the national capital, was arrested from Jodhpur in Rajasthan, police said on Tuesday.
One goldsmith, who was the receiver of the snatched chains, was also arrested, they said.
The accused have been identified as Arjun, a resident of Jhuggi Lal Bagh, and Vishal Verma (22), a resident of Nand Nagari, police said.
Arjun was involved in over 100 cases of snatching and robbery. After being released on bail in April this year, he still had 52 cases against him.
Police visited the places where incidents of snatching took place and collected data of CCTV footage. Later, it came to notice that in most of the incidents, the snatchers were active during early morning or after 8 pm to 10 pm, a senior police officer said.
On September 14, information was received that Arjun was going to Gogamedhi Dham in Jodhpur to evade his arrest, the officer said.
"Thereafter, a police team reached Gogamedhi Dham. A search was done in the remote area of Luni in Rajasthan and Arjun was apprehended," senior police official (Dwarka) Santosh Kumar Meena said.
During interrogation, he disclosed his involvement in more than 50 cases of snatching and robbery of gold chains in Dwarka, west, northwest, north and Rohini districts, police said.
A gold chain was also recovered from Verma's possession, they said.
The accused disclosed that he had committed the snatchings and robberies with his associates Ashish, Ajay, Amrish and his brother Sonu. They used high-performance stolen motorcycles or scooters, police said.
He said that he handed over many snatched gold chains to his mother, sister Pooja and brother-in-law Ravi and other relatives. Raids were conducted for his family members, but they are missing, the DCP said.
To divert police, he used to change the colour of stolen motorcycles to commit snatching. Police claimed that 52 cases of snatching, robbery, motor vehicle theft of Dwarka, west, Rohini, northwest and north districts have been solved, they said.
During Covid-triggered lockdown, Verma came in contact with Arjun and started taking snatched gold chains from him on 70 per cent market value. Five gold chains, three motorcycles and two scooters were recovered from their possession, police added.